The Exile
by Cadmium Poisoning
Summary: Four years after a violent takeover, Konoha is still picking up the pieces under its new rule. In the shadows of the Konoha forest, however, a rebellion is brewing. Who will win, the newly-appointed child Hokage or the organization plotting her demise? AU, no pairings (yet)
1. Hinata, in the Evening

**Hello!**

**It has been a long time since I've written anything, and this is the first Naruto story I'm publishing here. Be gentle with reviews? Also, as a small warning... I first started this story over two years ago. I have a few more chapters ready-ish, but it will probably take me long time to update.**

**The point of view changes between chapters from one character to another.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own this series**

HINATA, IN THE EVENING

Hinata checked her surroundings for guards. Her byakugan eyes turning, she scanned every direction within the radius of two hundred meters. At her eleven o'clock, behind a building, she saw a man wearing the guard outfit. He was also scanning. His gaze turned in her direction and Hinata did not wait for confirmation.

She deactivated her byakugan and fled to the sewers.

The guard managed to track her for about fifteen abrupt changes in direction, but then lost her and returned to surface. _Thank goodness the byakugan doesn't see very well in pitch-black darkness_, Hinata thought to herself. That was why she had deactivated hers before descending to the sewers. It wouldn't have helped her in the maze, and the guard might have been able to sense her chakra flare and follow it.

The exiled Hyuuga stretched out her arms and touched the wall. She, like all of the exiles, had almost the entire sewer system memorized. The wall she was currently touching was just under the marketplace, and if she followed it for a while and then turned right, she would arrive at a safe location to resurface. Or that was her hope. She hadn't known real safety for several years now.

Upon arriving at the manhole she wanted to go through, Hinata activated her bloodline again. Around herself, she could see nothing. Above the ground, she saw houses with closed curtains, streetlamps lighting up to keep roads lit a little longer before the curfews, and most importantly, she saw no guards.

Hinata exited the sewers in a flash and hid herself behind a couple of trash cans to do a more thorough search of the area. Still finding no guards, she tugged the scarf she had around her face further up and started running. From one shelter to another. From behind one object to behind another. Constantly checking her surroundings again and again.

Eventually the girl arrived at her destination. Checking her surroundings once more, and finding no one near her, she pulled open a door leading to the building she had had her back against, entered fast, and shut the door as quietly as she could.

"Hello, Hinako-chan", a voice greeted her from the back of the small pharmacy. Hinako was Hinata's (quite obvious) alias, because who knew who might be listening in on them. Not that it really mattered what name was used - if the shopkeeper was seen with Hinata, she would be arrested immediately anyway, if not executed on the spot. Using the alias was almost a joke between them.

"Hey, Sakura-san." The pink-haired girl emerged from the storage room, carrying around a large box labelled "BANDAGES".

"The usual? Do you need anything added?" Sakura asked, pulling a stuffed plastic bag out of the box. Hinata shook her head.

"No major injuries this time. Also, a guard saw me two hours ago, so I should leave as soon as I can."

"Right. Here you go." The former medic-nin said and handed the bag over. Hinata thanked her and put the bag under her arm. "Give everyone my best", Sakura commented as Hinata turned to leave.

"I will. They send their thanks for the last time, and this one also." Then Hinata vanished to the night.

-exile-

Hinata was in the sewers again, travelling towards the edge of the city. This was always the most dangerous part of the trip. The guards - and even worse, the anbu - knew the exiles frequently moved across the borders, and they had seen her today. They would be expecting her. She would have to be even stealthier than usually; the walls of Konoha were very closely guards, and rigged with traps.

At times like this, Hinata truly missed those days when the Gates could be opened without authorization from the Hokage. Slipping past the guards would have been easier if the gates were sometimes left open, like in the old days...

...But then again, in the old days, anbu patrols went much further than the village gates, and the rebel community would have to be a lot further away from Konoha than it was now. Perhaps this was the best; after all, the reason the gates were guarded so thoroughly was because it was known that parts of the Konoha forest belonged to the exiles.

Reaching the wall, Hinata activated her byakugan again. There was a guard tower right above her, and she could see that neither of the two guards in it had the byakugan. Hinata turned off her bloodline and used a genjutsu to blend in with the colour of the wall. Then she concentrated chakra to her feet and ran up the wall in an instant, so that she was directly below the floor of the tower. She then carefully crawled past the tower, her back just below the window of it, obscured from sight unless one of the guards leant through the window. Luckily, they didn't.

Once past the wall, the Hyuuga let herself drop freely towards the ground before halting her fall by grabbing the wall with chakra just before impact. Now she was directly below the tower, on the other side. Turning off her genjutsu, she walked along the wall to the north, and then dashed off to the forest. The guards didn't notice her.

-exile-

The rebel hideout was a large underground compound, first found by Itachi Uchiha when the Third Hokage had just been overthrown. Who had created its halls and rooms was unknown, though most exiles believed that Itachi had definitely known about it beforehand; otherwise he couldn't have found it so fast after the coup. The Uchiha himself refused to comment, which of course only made it more interesting. The rumours had it that the compound had once been used by an underground society from Konoha who wished to overthrow the Hokage.

...Well, no matter what the past might have been, now the compound was definitely being used by an underground society intent on overthrowing the current Hokage. Ironic as that was.

As Hinata reached one of the secret entrances, she dialed a long series of passwords and key numbers to get through the doors. Once inside, she put down her bag, held up her arms and let the rebel guards frisk search her for weapons and explosives. Finding none, the guards stepped aside and let her report to the council member on duty.

Hinata went to the desk and found it occupied by a man hiding most of his face under a mask and a forehead protector. She smiled as the man lifted his only visible eye to her.

"Ah, Hinata-chan! Welcome back." Hinata bowed.

"Hello, Kakashi-san." Kakashi gave her an eye-crinkling smile and suddenly, after a long day of anxiety and stress, Hinata felt like home.

"How went the mission? Did you get the supplies?" Kakashi asked. Hinata held out the bag in response.

"I was seen by a guard once, but otherwise everything went well. Also, Sakura sends her regards." Kakashi went through the bag and then smiled again.

"I hope you remembered to give her our thanks."

"I did." Kakashi nodded.

"I'll send these to the healers. Good work, Hinata." Hinata knew she had been dismissed, so she smiled, bowed again and turned to go to her quarters. She would have loved to stay and chat with the man, as they were friends, but right now Kakashi-san was her superior on duty and it would have been improper of her to stay.

-exile-

In the cramped space of the exile hideout, Hinata was considered one of the lucky ones as she only had to share her room with two others: Ino Yamanaka and Tenten.

Ino Yamanaka was a bouncy, energetic girl whose father had nearly been killed in the coup, and remained in the medical ward of the hideout, paralyzed from waist down. Hinata had known Ino - only by name, they hadn't been close - since they'd been little ninja academy students.

When the Third Hokage and his council was assassinated, Ino's father, Inoichi, had been the only one to make it out of the room alive, although just barely (another council member had survived by being absent).

Ino had been there that day with Inoichi. Hinata sometimes wondered if Inoichi's need to protect his daughter had been what got him out of there alive - after all, Ino would also have been executed if he hadn't rescued her. After they had escaped the tower, Inoichi was hit by a nearly lethal attack, and Ino had to drag him to safety. She had managed to flee the disaster zone the village had turned into, dragging her father to the forest. Itachi Uchiha had found them there and offered them shelter.

Hinata's other roommate, Tenten, had suffered very little in the actual coup. She had stayed in the village, somewhat clueless of what was going on, until the new Hokage had announced that all young genin from civilian families would lose their ninja status. This was what had happened to Sakura; she had been forced to forfeit her career as a kunoichi, and was now a pharmacist.

Tenten, being a genin from a family of blacksmiths, would also have had to turn her back on her chosen career for good. This had been too much for her; she had dreamed her whole life of rising to fame as a powerful kunoichi. She had escaped the village and come to the exiles, asking to join them. Back then, the rebel community was still a mess with no leaders to guide them and no guards to enforce their rules, so joining had been much easier. Now, years later, she would have had to go through a long trial period to be allowed in.

The reason Hinata, Tenten and Ino were allowed to live in their room with just the three of them (the room had capacity for four) was that they were among the most hard-working members of the whole rebel movement.

Ino was a master spy; with her family techniques, she could possess villagers and ninjas, and using their bodies, she gathered information by walking around, snooping through documents and talking to people.

Tenten, on the other hand, had her family's blacksmithing skills: she knew how to make nearly any weapon in the books and how to use them as well. She made weapons, trained others to use them and, most importantly for her, took part in regular missions - that had been, after all, what she had wanted from life when she joined the exiles.

And Hinata... Well, Hinata was the only Hyuuga the exiles had. With the whole village guarded by so many watchful byakugans, sending regular ninja in was dangerous, and only the most skilled exiles were sent there on missions. They had lost more than one ninja after they had been caught by the guards who could locate them even through solid objects. This made Hinata a natural choice for small in-Konoha missions, since she had the same ability as the guards. In fact, hers was greater; coming from the main Hyuuga line, she could see a greater distance than most of the branch family members working as guards.

-exile-

On her way to her room, Hinata came across Rock Lee, a ridiculously energetic young ninja who had once been teamed up with Tenten and one of Hinata's family members. Before the coup, of course.

"Hinata-chan! Did the mission go well?" Lee asked very excitedly, mock-saluting Hinata.

"Lee-kun." Hinata bowed to him a little in greeting and smiled. "It went well. I was seen by a guard once, but otherwise everything went smoothly."

"How was the lovely Sakura-san doing?" Lee had always had a kind of an obvious secret crush on Sakura.

"She seems to be well. She sent her regards to everyone." Lee smiled happily and blushed a bit.

"I am happy to hear that! I'm still jealous of you, though! I would like to go see her myself but I can't seem to get the clearance to start working on in-Konoha missions. I failed the test for the third time yesterday." His face fell dramatically at the last two sentences.

Hinata would never say it out loud, but she approved whole-heartedly of the decision to keep Lee out of Konoha. The youth didn't seem to understand the meaning of subtlety, or even speaking quietly.

"I'm sure you will pass it soon. You just need to concentrate very hard next time." Hinata hoped she didn't come off as patronising. Of course, such worry was wasted on Lee.

"YOU'RE RIGHT, MY FRIEND! NEXT TIME, I SHALL DEFINITELY PASS! NOW, AS A PUNISHMENT, I WILL GO TO THE TRAINING GROUNDS TO RUN THREE HUNDRED LAPS AROUND THE FIELD! BYE, HINATA-CHAN!" Lee roared and dashed off towards the exit.

"Bye, Lee-kun..." Hinata tried to say, but he was already gone. Well, with Lee, this kind of thing was routine. The girl turned around to keep moving, but was stopped in her tracks by an intimidating figure.

Itachi Uchiha. The founder and unofficial leader of the exile community.

"U-U-Uchiha-san! Good evening." Hinata stammered and bowed so low that her hair was hanging past her knees.

"Hinata-san. Good evening to you as well." Itachi nodded in her direction. The Hyuuga straightened her posture, anxious, but Itachi was already walking away. Hinata breathed a sigh of relief. She had always been terribly intimidated by Itachi, and felt that he didn't approve of her.

Well, it wasn't like he didn't have a reason to disapprove of her... Hinata had once been the heiress to the Hyuuga family, and she had still somehow managed to stay completely clueless to the fact that her own father was involved in a plot to assassinate the Third Hokage and take over Konoha.

With a sigh, Hinata marched on towards her room, her mood dampened.

-exile-

**A/N: I would love some constructive criticism. Thank you for reading!**


	2. Kakashi, the Night Shift

**Hello again! **

**Thanks to everyone who commented, favorited, reviewed or followed this. Here's the next chapter, this time from Kakashi's perspective.**

**Warning: Sasuke has a swearing habit.**

KAKASHI, THE NIGHT SHIFT

Kakashi read through the report that Sakura had sent with the supplies.

_"Hello diary,_

_Business has been slow this week so I have plenty of time to write. A new set of curfews came again by the mail. It's kind of a nuisance really, I can barely keep up with them! And seriously, they are already starting to affect my business hours. I usually keep the shop open until seven, so I can go out to buy groceries before the lights go out, but now they've given me one seven P.M. curfew! Well, I guess I'll have to do my shopping on another day or close my shop early that time._

_I haven't heard anything from my friends this week. I guess they haven't got plans or just didn't invite me. _

_One of my clients told me a joke yesterday. I'd already heard that one, but I laughed anyway. I mean, I need to be polite to them, right?_

_Well, I guess that's all for today, so nighty-night!"_

Kakashi sighed. It was a bold move from Sakura to mention the curfews in a report, especially the exact time. The villagers were not supposed to write them down, but memorize them and live by them.

Curfews were rules imposed by the new Hokage and her advisors. At the hour of the curfew, the lights in the village went out, and anyone who was found outside would be taken for questioning. This was meant to help the guards find exiles in the village, because they should not know of the rules and would remain outside, where they could be identified.

The seven P.M. curfew meant that they would have to send Hinata-chan on her usual retrieval mission early next week, which of course meant there was a greater risk she'd be spotted in the light of the day. Kakashi did not like these news at all. Of course they could go a little longer without getting more supplies... But then again, if someone got seriously injured that time...

'Friends' in Sakura's message meant the village rule. Sakura hadn't heard of any new plans from them, but wasn't sure if that meant they hadn't any or that she just hadn't found out. 'Clients' were allies in the village, and 'jokes' were information. This bit of information the ally had given Sakura seemed to be old news, though, because the pharmacist had already 'heard the joke'.

_I miss Sakura... compared to the knucklehead duo, she made such an attentive student. Such diligent work on these reports, too._ Kakashi sighed again, stood up, and pressed a speaker button on the wall.

"Hello?" came an answer from the other end, along with a plenty of static noise.

"Kurenai. Hinata has reported in and brought the supplies. I need to take them to the medics, and take Sakura's report to be copied before council. Could you cover for me in the lobby?" A sigh sounded from the other end.

"You know, you could use the errand people to run your errands. Or me."

"I could use a walk. And Sakura's report is important..."

"You just want me to sit in for you because you can't read porn while on duty."

"...Well, that could certainly be the case, but it might still be one of those other reasons I said. What did I say they were again?"

"You're a pain in the ass. But fine, I'll cover for you."

"Thanks, Kurenai!"

-exile-

Kurenai came to the booth, complained about Kakashi's habits for a while, and then let him go. The masked jonin made a point of pulling his book from his pocket and starting to read while still within her sight, just to rattle her a bit.

It seemed to be helping Kurenai to have someone to mother. Before the coup, she had been making plans to marry and start a family with one of Kakashi's friends. The man - Asuma Sarutobi - had been killed in the coup and his death had hit Kurenai very hard. She'd hardly spoken for weeks, and many had been concerned that she might try to end her life to follow Asuma.

Kakashi and Kurenai's genin team had worked hard to involve her in everything they did and keep her close, both to observe her and support her. Eventually their efforts paid off, as the young jonin slowly became more and more lively. Of course Kurenai would never _really_ be okay - no one from the exile group would.

"Kakashi-sensei", someone said in a monotone voice.

"Sasuke." Kakashi greeted the Uchiha, lifting his eye from his book in a lazy manner. The teen in front of him was dressed in a black-and-white outfit that looked a few sizes too small, and giving Kakashi his standard 'I am bored and angry' -look.

"Say, when will you start wearing the uniform?" Kakashi asked, "You've outgrown that shirt years ago. Or is the skintight clothes thing a part of your plan to restore your clan- Y'know, to get the fangirls' hormones running?"

Sasuke's expression became even angrier with just a hint of concealed embarrassment. "You promised to teach me and Naruto-"

"Naruto and I", Kakashi corrected, trying to sidetrack the teen.

"- Whatever, a new jutsu this week. When will you?" Sasuke was not about to be distracted from this, apparently.

"...Tuesday?"

"Today is Wednesday already."

"Oh. Well, I guess then it will have to be next week-"

"_You said_ this week. You _will do it _this week." Sasuke's glare wasn't half as intimidating as the boy clearly thought it was. It actually made him look a little constipated.

"Will I, now? I'm not sure I like your tone, young man..."

"Cut the bullshit! I need training if I'm ever going to be strong enough to avenge my clan!"

_That's why I don't want to train you,_ Kakashi thought. Sasuke was reckless and unbelievably stubborn. Kakashi was worried he might, with a little training, get the idea into his head that he was already strong enough to attack the village and get himself killed. He had actually tried once. _I will have to talk to Itachi about _this, Kakashi decided. _He knows how to deflate the poor brat's ego._

"Fine. Saturday, one o'clock, the main training hall. Tell Naruto, and don't be late." Kakashi walked away.

"Says the one who is always late!" The teen yelled after him.

_Oh, believe me, you will the ones be late for this session, _Kakashi thought to himself, amused. _You see, I didn't specify which one o'clock our training will take place._..

-exile-

There was only one occasion for which Kakashi was never late, and that was the council. Even he knew it would have been disrespectful towards his dead comrades to be late for these meetings. So today, as per usual, Kakashi took his seat by the table at nine o'clock with everyone else, and listened to Ibiki's starting words.

For a reason no one could really remember, Ibiki, a former torture specialist, had become the spokesperson of the council. He opened the debate, gave out turns to speak and summarized the results of the meeting in the end. Perhaps it was his presence. When Ibiki spoke, everyone else instinctively quieted (with the sole exception of Anko). However, everyone on the council - including Ibiki himself - knew who the real leader of the group was. Whenever the council was badly divided on something and a ruling was needed their eyes would turn two seats to Ibiki's left, where sat the fourth youngest member of the council. Itachi Uchiha.

While Itachi had never truly agreed to be a leader to the exiles, he had assembled them and given them a roof over their head. Many owed their lives to him indirectly, some directly. The Uchiha had united them and turned them from a group of lost individuals into a force against the new Konoha rule. For that he, in spite of being relatively young, was treated as the leader.

Kakashi listened to Ino's report of the week without much interest. None of the spy's information was new, and she said so herself at the beginning of her speech. Kakashi thought that saying so kind of defeated the purpose of giving a speech, but didn't comment. The Hokage was keeping to herself - Kimiko Hyuuga had been killed in action - traps were being set in the sewers - punishments for violating curfews were harsher than before... All of this, the rebels had been aware of for a week. Kakashi was trying to keep himself from yawning.

Shino's report was far more interesting. The other spy had, using his bugs, managed to figure out the locations and the types of the traps that were being set in the sewer system. Kakashi listened intently and made notes to his copy of the report, knowing he would have to brief Hinata on it later.

After the spies had spoken, Shikaku Nara opened a debate to discuss what course of action they should take. Since all of the rest of the information was already known, the talk centered on Shino's report of the traps. Kakashi, again, listened carefully. As Shikaku spoke, his son Shikamaru sat next to him, interrupting occasionally with a sharp argument.

Shikaku had survived the attack on the Hokage's council due to an argument with his wife. When the fatal meeting had started, he had been at home, late, being screamed at. His survival was irony at its finest, as the man had often commented that his temperamental wife would someday be the death of him.

As the bombs had been set off at the Uchiha district, the Naras had fought their way out of the village, trying desperately to find their son, who had at the time been practicing with his teammate Chouji and his teacher - Asuma Sarutobi. By the time Shikaku and his wife found the team, Asuma had been killed and Kakashi himself had ran into them, now defending Shikamaru, Chouji and Naruto (a boy from his own team) against some Hyuuga assassins.

As Kakashi now observed Shikamaru make sarcastic remarks at his father's arguments, the masked jonin couldn't help but wonder if the teen somehow held his father responsible for Asuma's death. Shikaku had been on the Third Hokage's council and specialized in strategy and intelligence - and yet, like the entire council, had failed to predict the coup. Shikamaru had worshipped Asuma and probably considered him a stronger father figure than his actual father, so losing him in the attack had hit the boy hard.

The meeting eventually drew to a close, and Kakashi picked up his notes, folded them and put them in the same pocket as his precious book. Not much had been done - the rebel community was years away from being strong and organized enough to attack the Hokage. Right now, survival was what mattered. They had to keep their lives, so that they wouldn't be written out of Konoha's history books.

Kakashi felt strangely anxious. In the old days, whenever he felt this way he would have gone to visit the memorial stone near the training grounds of Konoha and think of his late comrades, but nowadays going to Konoha alone would have been very dangerous.

_Speaking of dangerous things..._

"Itachi. Can I have a minute?" Kakashi signaled for the younger man to stick around. Itachi nodded and waited for the rest of the council to clear the room.

"It's Sasuke again, isn't it?" the Uchiha guessed easily.

"Yes. Do you think I should start training him again? He keeps pestering me about it, but I'm not certain he's ready." And they needed to be certain. Sasuke had already once tried to sneak into the village without telling anyone, to try and attack the Hyuuga. Itachi had caught him and "convinced" the boy that it was a bad idea. That is to say, traumatized him permanently with a sharingan-induced hallucination.

Itachi sighed heavily. "Don't. Not yet. He is... far too desperate. I'll see if I can make him leave you alone."

Kakashi nodded and thanked the Uchiha before leaving the room. Behind him, Itachi left as well, locking the door. Glancing at his watch, Kakashi sighed as he realized he would have to go continue his shift at the front desk for nearly an hour. _Couldn't the council have lasted a bit longer at least?_


	3. Sasuke, at Night

**I apologize for taking so long. I've been maniacally busy as of late, and honestly the lack of reviews and stuff is kind of getting to me. I'll try to keep this up though, and I hope some of you still like this.**

SASUKE, AT NIGHT

Itachi was far too passive.

Sasuke was certain of that. His brother was wasting time building the rebel community - they needed to attack Konoha immediately. They had already lost their best opportunity to strike back, which had been right after the coup. Back then the village had been in chaos and the Hyuuga's grip on it had been loose. Had Itachi so desired, Sasuke knew his brother could have killed the poorly guarded Hanabi Hyuuga.

But he hadn't. Itachi had chosen to waste his time gathering other victims and even going as far as rescuing Hinata Hyuuga, the older sister of the current Hokage, who claimed to have known nothing of the coup. Admittedly, the girl was a wimp - not the sort of a person you could rely on to keep a secret as big as a coup - but Sasuke still thought she should have been executed. She was a Hyuuga after all. If she was too stupid to notice that her own family was planning to kill the Hokage and take over the village, that was all her own fault, and she should have paid for it.

But back to Itachi...

Everything always came back to Itachi. Itachi was the one who held back his training. Itachi was the one who refused to declare a war on Konoha. Itachi was the one who had caught him when he had tried to take matters into his own hands. Itachi-

"Sasuke?"

-had an impeccable sense of timing. Sasuke visibly jumped at the sound of his brother's voice.

"Y-yes, nii-san?" Sasuke looked over to the door of their room to find the older Uchiha watching him expressionlessly.

"I hear you've been asking for extra training", Itachi said tonelessly. Yet it felt like an accusation. _Damn Kakashi!_

"I was just asking. Kakashi-sensei said he could teach me and Naruto on Saturday." Sasuke sat down on his bed, refusing to meet his brother's eyes.

"You've yet to master the techniques I showed you. I'll have to ask Kakashi-san to cancel."

"No!" Sasuke stood up. "I'm already better at the stupid kunai trick than anyone else besides you and Tenten! I can't take it anymore! And I need to learn new techniques!"

"Whatever for?" The older Uchiha stared hard into Sasuke's eyes, and the teen had to suppress a shiver.

"You know what for! Don't play dumb. To kill the Hokage."

"Why are you in such a rush, then? We might be years away from being able to pull off an assassination, considering how well she is guarded. Not to mention, just killing her would mean nothing. Another Hyuuga would step up to take her place. We have to arrange a wide-scale attack that targets the current village rule and the Hyuuga elders-"

"You're wasting time!"

Itachi was silent for a moment, looking almost like Sasuke had spat on him. "What do you propose we do then? What would you do if you were in my position?"

"Attack! And soon! Who knows how much better the security around Hanabi Hyuuga gets over the years! If we let them stay in control for any longer, they will be impossible to take on, because they are growing stronger!" Sasuke yelled.

"As are we. That argument of yours comes up in every other council meeting, and is always dismissed, because everyone there knows that attacking with the forces we have now would be a suicide mission. If we don't build our strength, we'll be crushed."

"How are we supposed to 'build our strength'? We don't get new recruits, unlike the Hyuuga."

"More and more villagers are coming to our side-"

"What use will civilians be in combat?!"

"Do not underestimate them. They have a lot of practical knowledge of the village - much more than we have now. And, of course, not all of them are civilians. We have guards, active shinobi, and genin who lost their ninja status because of the new law..."

"Oh yeah. Like _Sakura_. She'll _definitely_ be useful when we attack." Sasuke's voice was oozing with sarcasm.

Itachi poked his forehead. "Do not be disrespectful. Many of us would have lost their lives were it not for the medication she has provided us with. But back to the point, it is very important to have the village's support. If they turn against the Hyuuga, and we wait for the right moment, we can take over the village relatively easily. We just need to wait."

"How long?! And what the hell is 'the right moment'!?"

"There are some ideas. Shikaku-san is suggesting we ally ourselves with another village, but that would be very dangerous. After all, they could kill us off after we defeat the Hyuuga and take over Konoha for themselves."

"So you're saying we're going to do nothing." Sasuke crossed his arms and glared at his brother angrily.

"Your ability to hear only what you want to hear is astounding, as always. If you had actually listened, you would know that I'm saying we need a very good plan before we can move." Itachi remained expressionless, but Sasuke knew his brother was getting annoyed.

"We have enough forces to-"

"We don't."

"FINE, then! I'll leave you alone to _plan_ and go train!" Sasuke pushed past Itachi, ran into the hallway and slammed the door closed with a resounding _BAM._

"Don't bother Kakashi-san. He's on desk duty", came Itachi's muffled voice through the door.

"I WON'T!"

-exile-

There were two training areas in the rebel hideout. One was located indoors, under the living quarters, and another had been set up outdoors after the poor ventilation in the underground training hall had become an issue. The mold-scented underground stone hall was still used as the main training grounds, though, because the outside one was subject to attacks from Konoha. It would usually get destroyed completely and consequently relocated at least twice a year.

Sasuke was, to his disgust, banned from visiting the outside training grounds without a guardian. He had had the right to train there on his own before his attempt to attack Konoha, but ever since that mishap the Uchiha had lost quite a few rights. Essentially, he had been lowered to the status of a genin or a small child - not trusted to behave himself outdoors without an older ninja present.

Because of his second-rate-citizen status, Sasuke was now wandering around the hallways, trying to think of who he could ask to go with him to the training grounds (he was far too pissed off to go to the training hall indoors and deal with all of those annoying people there). Sasuke's usual answer would have been Kakashi, but he didn't feel like facing the jerk after he'd gone and complained about him to Itachi.

The Uchiha wished he could have just taken Naruto with him, but the rules had it that the guardian needed to be of a higher rank than the person guarded. Sasuke and Naruto had both been promoted to chuunin by the rebel council three years ago, and neither had made jonin, so the moron in orange wasn't qualified to look after Sasuke.

After making a list of people in his head, Sasuke arrived to the main lobby of the hideout to take a look at the board that showed the names of the shinobi who were currently away on a mission. Sasuke read it through, pointedly ignoring Kakashi's presence all the while, and eliminated some people from his list because they were away, and some because he knew they wouldn't be awake. After some of thought, the Uchiha decided on asking Tsume-san first.

Tsume Inuzuka was the mother of Kiba Inuzuka, who was an ex-classmate of Sasuke's. She wasn't exactly Sasuke's first choice for an escort, but she was easy-going - although much less so now that she had been before the coup. Another good thing about her was that she didn't ask Sasuke stupid questions like if he were okay and how he was doing (his whole family except for his useless brother had been murdered, how did everyone _think_ he was doing?!).

-exile-

Sasuke arrived at the Inuzuka family's door and knocked. Barking immediately sounded from the other side of the door. The Inuzuka's dogs were usually well-behaved, but not as quiet as Kakashi's ninken.

"Kiba! Open the door!"

"Why can't you do it yourself? I'm resting!"

_BANG!_

"Just OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"

Then again, the Inuzukas weren't very quiet themselves. Kiba, clutching the back of his head, appeared at the door.

"What the fuck do you want?" he asked, polite as usual.

"I'm here to ask if Tsume-san could come train with me outside." Sasuke told him.

"Ooh, right, 'cause the poor widdle Uchiha can't go out without a babysitter. Poor little baby."

"Can I just speak to your mom, dog boy?" Sasuke growled.

"Fine... Mom! Sasuke wants to ask you out!" Kiba yelled. Sasuke was grinding his teeth at the joke. Also, what was it with the Inuzukas and their volume level? The hideout's rooms were not large at all. Tsume had probably already heard their entire conversation, so there was no need for Kiba to shout.

Perhaps the Inuzukas were all secretly deaf. It would explain a lot.

Tsume came to the door with her dog. "Good timing. Me an' Kuromaru have been getting ready to go train ourselves just now. Give us a minute and we'll join ya." She then closed the door without waiting for an answer.

"You weren't gettin' ready to go train", Kiba's voice came through the door. Another banging noise sounded.

Sasuke sighed heavily. He hated being pitied, and Tsume clearly felt sorry for him. _I guess I can't afford to be picky right now. As long as she doesn't try to mother me._ Many people from the rebel community had tried to play the role of a parent for him out of sheer pity when Sasuke had first lost his family. The boy had told them off pretty quickly. He had no need for adoptive parent figures, and he was much more than any of them could have handled.

Back then, he had still thought that all he needed was his brother. He had idolized Itachi for so long that he hadn't been able to see what the older Uchiha was. A useless pacifist. For all his power and genius, Itachi was laughably passive. Unwilling to act. A coward who cared more about preserving his own life than avenging the people he had supposedly loved.

Sasuke would do anything for the power to destroy the Hyuuga. Anything. _Anything._ _ANYTHING!_

That was the reason why when three weeks ago, he had started finding little whispering snakes on the grass by the training area, he had actually listened to them rather than immediately stamping them out.


	4. Sakura, in the Morning

**Sorry it took so long... again… **

SAKURA, IN THE MORNING

It was a beautiful early autumn morning in the village of Konoha. The sun was shining with a warm glow, the trees on the sides of the marketplace had just started changing their colors, and a brisk, but not yet cold wind was blowing.

"H- Achoo!"

Also, it was the flu season. Sakura shivered a bit as she stepped out of bed, leaving the warmth and comfort behind. Forcing herself to not linger, she quickly made her way to the bathroom, shivering again as her feet touched the cold, tiled floor. She could feel another sneeze coming soon.

"I hade mobningds", Sakura muttered to herself, and blew her nose.

-exile-

After a warm shower, breakfast, a little make-up and some of her own shop's choicest flu meds, Sakura felt much better. Dressed in her usual red, she ventured downstairs to the first floor of her house, which was the pharmacy. The teen skipped about the shop, running back and forth between the shelves and the storage room, restocking and cleaning. She was in no hurry this morning; it was a Sunday, and the pharmacy was closed.

Sakura had come to own the shop because she had worked there as an intern after her ninja status was removed. In Konoha, where twelve-year-olds were frequently put in mortal danger in the line of duty, the child labor laws were flexible (to say the least), even among civilians. Sakura had been just thirteen, the coup had been freshly over and the village licking its wounds, when she had been asked to work at the pharmacy.

Sakura had agreed without a second thought, because the suggestion had come from Kakashi-sensei.

When the coup had happened, Sakura hadn't been with her team. It was by coincidence that that very day, every genin of team seven had been training separately. Kakashi-sensei had decided to finally give Naruto a much-needed supplementary lesson on chakra control, Sasuke was learning sharingan-tricks with his scary brother, and Sakura had just signed up for some extracurricular healing classes at the Konoha Hospital. When attack had happened, Sakura's teammates had been attacked - but the hospital had been locked down and Sakura and the rest of the students had been rushed to a bomb shelter downstairs. When they finally got out, the village rule had changed.

Her teammates had vanished, and were now called traitors.

The Hokage was dead and the Hyuuga had found evidence that suggested he had funded Orochimaru's human experiments.

The Uchiha family had been wiped out. As it turned out, they had been preparing to overthrow the Hokage and take over Konoha for themselves.

Every corner in the village was now guarded by Hyuuga clan members, as well as other odd-looking ninja, who all wore an even emptier expression than the pupil-less Hyuuga.

Several years' worth of civilian-family genin were removed from duty, even Sakura, the top female graduate of her year.

Sakura had cried until she fainted. Then she had woken up at home, and cried herself unconscious again. For two days, she had refused to eat, get up, or be consoled. That was when Kakashi had appeared.

He had come through her window, disguised and sudden, and scared Sakura so badly she would have screamed if her voice hadn't been so hoarse from all of the crying. All she had managed was a weak croaking noise. Once Sakura had calmed down, her teacher had explained to her what she had already known: the Hyuuga had taken over, and framed the Third Hokage for treason to justify it.

He had also told her that her teammates were alive, and needed her. She was to stay in the village as a spy for the newly formed rebels, and try to aid them from within. Sakura had cried and begged to go with him. Kakashi had pleaded for her to stay. She was their best choice for a spy, he had argued. She had retained her citizenship status in the village, when so many others had been jailed or executed. She was young, innocent, civilian, and female. No one would suspect her.

Four years later, Sakura knew Kakashi hadn't been perfectly honest in saying that. She had been the teammate of three now very notorious rebels, and she was certain that someone had to have doubted her loyalty to the new Konoha, at least somewhere along the way. The teen could only hope those doubts were gone by now. Kakashi had been honest in one regard, though: the rebels did need her. There was a strong, secret anti-Hyuuga movement within the village, but out of those people, the active-duty ninja were now watched so tightly by the Hyuuga that they couldn't aid the rebels much, and out of everyone else, only a handful had any ninja training. Sakura _was_ an excellent choice for a spy. She had the basic training (and then some), she had all of the qualities that Kakashi had mentioned, and was good enough a liar to seem innocent and naive.

Although lying was a skill she had picked up on the way.

So Sakura had allowed Kakashi to convince her to stay in the village, and the man had on a later visit suggested that she should work at the pharmacy, which back then had been owned by an elderly healer - and another secret anti-Hyuuga activist. Sakura had learned a lot from him - about herbs, medicine, diseases, spying, and lying. The man was now retired and had moved over to his son's family's house, leaving the business (both the official and the nightly) in Sakura's hands.

The pinkette was checking her charts to make sure nothing was missing from the storage. Then she checked her _other _chart, and changed the numbers so that it looked like the items that_ were _missing, which were the supplies Hinata had taken last night, had never been there to begin with.

The teen sometimes wondered if Kakashi and everyone else had wanted to protect her when they had insisted that she stayed in Konoha. She was, of course in great danger even as a spy, but as a rebel she would have been in an even greater one. Sakura did not like the idea of being protected, because it implied that she was weak. But- was she? She hadn't been much use to anyone on her team's first missions and had only begun to grow bolder by the time the coup had happened.

And didn't it seem to prove her weakness further that Kakashi had managed to speak her into staying within the village? Perhaps, deep down, she had not wanted to risk her neck after all, perhaps she had actually wanted to stay warm and comfortable and let someone else do the fighting...

But this, Sakura knew, was not true. If she had the chance, she would join her friends in a heartbeat. Sasuke-kun, that sweet idiot Naruto, Ino-pig, Kakashi-sensei, everyone else too. She did want to go to them. It was duty that bound her to this side of Konoha's walls, where she was alone. It had been duty to her friends and teammates and everyone else that had originally made her stay.

-exile-

Pleased with her checks and the condition of the pharmacy, Sakura put her charts in two folders - one very carefully hidden behind some anti-byakugan traps, the other in her filing cabinet - and smiled. _That's all for today._ She took a coat from the storage room, dressed, grabbed her purse, and went out.

Clouds had begun to gather overhead, and the sunlight that had woken Sakura in the morning was quickly being snuffed out. Sakura made a mental note to try and hurry. She had some shopping to do, and she did not want to have to run home in the rain. The annoying thing was that she knew a way to stop the rain from touching her skin, but because it involved using her chakra, it was technically considered ninjutsu and therefore she was not allowed to do it.

The rebel community had many theories as to why the Hyuuga had forced some many young genin into a very, very early retirement, but the best theory (in Sakura's opinion) was one that Tenten had come up with. Ino had told Sakura of her theory (sometimes, when Ino was feeling particularly daring, she would possess certain villagers with her mind techniques and come over to Sakura's place to exchange information. Definitely not _gossip_. Exchange information. Yes. Definitely.)

Tenten believed that the reason was the age ratio amongst the rebels. Among those who were openly rebels, there were many people from the same age group. From Sakura's own graduating class, there were nine people who the Hyuuga had tried to assassinate in the coup, but had survived, and another two who had left without being pursued. From Tenten's class, there were eight rebels. In fact, out of all of those who were openly rebels, almost half had been younger than twenty at the time, and all of the other age groups were less well represented.

So it made sense to ban as many ninja from the young generation as possible, since it was very likely that they knew someone from the rebel community and might sympathize with them. Allowing potentially anti-Hyuuga ninja to train and hone their skills further would have posed a problem for the future. And civilian-family genin had just been such an easy target. Banning genin from ninja families would have caused an uprising immediately, but what could civilian parents do to cause trouble? Not much, it had turned out.

Sakura went to the grocery store, picked up a shopping basket and collected everything she needed in a record time. Snatching the final item on her list (skimmed milk) from a fridge, she felt a little victorious, and certain that she could get back home before it would start raining.

After paying an aging Hyuuga woman at the counter, Sakura left the store. Looking up at the sky, she was disappointed to see the murky clouds overhead. _Even though I got everything so fast._ She then lowered her gaze, and noticed a man on the roof of another building by the marketplace, wearing anbu getup. He vanished before Sakura could get a proper look at him, but a chill ran through her regardless. Very determined to not look up again, the pinkette started marching towards home.

_He was not there for me_, Sakura told herself. _There were plenty of other people at the marketplace and the shops. You're being paranoid. They don't suspect you. Maybe it was a patrol, maybe he wasn't there for anyone in particular. _She really wanted to run, but surely it would be suspicious to break into a run immediately after seeing an anbu officer?

Sakura felt the first raindrops collide against her forehead. _Damnit. Well, at least I now have an excuse to run._

-exile-

**A/N: Please, for the love of cheesecake, review. I don't care if all you say is "lol i liek it" or "OMG I hate Sakura." Just tell me something. Writing without getting any feedback is like screaming at walls - eventually you will come to the conclusion that you're mad and quit. **


	5. Itachi, Early Afternoon

**A/N: I am terribly sorry about not updating in… freaking ages. I don't really have any excuses, forgive me.**

ITACHI, EARLY AFTERNOON

The rainwater had slackened his hair against his neck.

Itachi was standing with his back against a lush oak tree. His arms were crossed and eyes closed. Around him, rain was falling heavily, but Itachi was relatively safe from it under his tree. The man was still and looked peaceful, as if he was just sleepily waiting for the rain to pass. A perfect image of complete serenity with nothing to interru-

_THWACK!_

"HEEY! I DID IT, CREEPY-EYES! TAKE THAT, NOW YOU GOTTA TEACH ME SOMETHING ELSE!"

Itachi lazily opened his eyes (which, some childish part of him would have liked to protest, were _not _creepy) and gazed over to the clearing where Naruto was practicing his aim with kunai. The boy had been practicing hitting four targets at the same time. Itachi saw that, after a week of solid non-stop swearing, Naruto had finally managed to concentrate enough to hit all four dead-center at the exact same time.

"Good work. Would you now like to learn to hit eight at the same time?" Itachi asked despite knowing what answer he would get.

"Hell no! That was damn hard enough! I never wanna do target practice again!" Naruto roared. To emphasize his point, he used a quick jutsu that sent out a sharp gust of wind at the target boards they had been using. They were all smashed into bits.

"Don't take your frustration out on the innocent targets. Weren't you the one who came to me yourself, asking me to teach you this?"

"Well yeah, but that was just because I couldn't let Sasuke-teme get ahead of me, and he was learning this technique so I had to!" Naruto practically bounced as he spoke, acting like the reasons for his actions were totally obvious and Itachi was just pretending to not understand.

Itachi wondered, not for the first time, if having rivals did something to your brain. Despite the fact that Naruto _had_ actually matured quite a bit from the rash, excitable boy Itachi remembered from Sasuke's Academy graduation ceremony, his IQ still dropped by several points whenever his rivalry with Sasuke came up in a conversation. _And goodness knows, I'm not sure he can afford to lose any,_ Itachi thought.

"Well, I think right now you should take a break", Itachi suggested in a tone that left no room to argue, "Come sit over here. Standing in that rain is not good for your health." Naruto sullenly obeyed.

"Would you like some snacks?" Itachi asked despite knowing what answer he would get.

"Nah. All you ever have is sweet stuff. Isn't that supposed to be bad for your health, anyway?" Naruto asked, rummaging through his backpack, which had been lying on the grass next to Itachi.

"No more so than those." He was looking at a bag of potato chips the blond had taken out. "Also, unlike you, I eat proper meals during mealtimes, not just cup ramen."

"I don't eat ramen for every meal, y'know! I just like having it sometimes!" Naruto shouted at the Uchiha, tearing his bag of chips open with a little more force than necessary. He sat down on the moist grass and began stuffing himself. Itachi fished a box of chocolate raisins out his pocket and opened it.

For a moment, they just ate silently, but the Uchiha could tell that Naruto actually wanted to tell him something. He had first noticed it in the morning. The boy would open his mouth to say something and then stop himself, and he had actually _hesitated_ before starting practice (which was practically unheard of, because the brat was always full of energy and wanted to train _constantly_).

Right now he was subtly peering up at him and turning back towards his chips, turning back to look at him and going back to eating. Itachi wanted to tell him to spit it out already, but decided against it. Naruto would have to get it out himself.

After a few more chips, he finally did.

"Hey, um…" Naruto started, "Did- ehh… Did you and Sasuke fight about something? Last night?"

Itachi kept his tone as neutral as he could. "Possibly."

"Ah. I- I mean, I don't wanna intrude, it's just that he was really pissed this morning an' said you'd cancelled our training with Kakashi-sensei…"

"Yes, I did, but I wasn't aware that he had promised to train you as well. I'm sorry, I'll ask Kakashi to train you alone-" Naruto put up his palm to stop him.

"Nah, I don't wanna do it if Sasuke's not coming. I mean, he'd be super angry if I trained ahead while he can't." Naruto explained.

In spite of his concerns for Naruto's intelligence, Itachi had to admire the boy's strange devotion to his brother and their rivalry. This was not the first time the teen had refused to accept things like this because Sasuke could not do it. Apparently Naruto thought it was "unfair to their rivalry" if he used the time when Sasuke was incapacitated to get ahead of him. He had even gone so far this time around as to spend his time studying Itachi's kunai techniques, which definitely didn't suit him, just because it was the only new form of training Itachi had allowed his brother since his mistake.

_Somehow I doubt that Sasuke would refuse extra training if he was put in the same position. _

"I just don't really get it why you're being so hard on him, I guess…" Naruto muttered warily, testing the waters to see if Itachi would get angry. _Looks like he has a lot more to get off his chest than he wants to let on._

"I mean, all he did was try to do some stupid stunt…"

"Sasuke's attempt to go into Konoha is not only a violation of our community's rules, but also a display of how poor his teamwork skills are. Trying to do everything all by yourself will only lead to disaster." _There's a lesson I wish I had learned without having to experience it. _Itachi suppressed a shiver. It was getting cold, and if the weather would not clear up, they would need to go back inside. Starting a fire was not an option this close to the village.

Naruto tried to argue back. "Yeah, but teme was just pissed… I think he woulda realized himself he was being stupid and come back. I mean, if he'd actually got all the way to Konoha, then he would have realized."

"I doubt it." _I'm quite certain he would not have._

"You can't know that. Besides, he's been ranting all this time about the council being lazy, and… Y'know. I mean… isn't it kinda bad that it's been four years and we've done nothin' against the Hyuuga?" Naruto gazed up at him, worried that he might become angry.

Itachi sighed. "We are not strong enough." _And it's not just the Hyuuga that we are up against._

"We would be wiped out completely if we attacked without a plan. The village would fall into their hands for good, and we would be buried as traitors." _And Danzo would also laugh his head off, that is, if he is capable of showing emotion._ "They want us to attack now, so that we can be destroyed." _And Danzo can add mine and Sasuke's eyes to his collection._

Naruto put his chips down, crossed his arms, and rested his chin on his knees. "I know all of that. I get it. I know the council's right. But I wanna go back to Konoha. I wanna go see all of those places, visit my home, and see Sakura too. And I know Sasuke wants to do that stuff even more than me, 'cause he had it better in the village than me. I like the rebel community, even if it's in a stuffy underground place, because everyone is pretty nice to me here. Certainly nicer than the folk were in Konoha. But Sasuke doesn't notice people being nice to him. They were always nice to him. So to him, this place an' the people are a lot worse than Konoha and his life there."

"I know. But the life Sasuke wants back is not there anymore. Our parents are dead and our home is destroyed." _I'm sorry_. "He is spending his time obsessing over things he cannot get back no matter what." Itachi sat down next to the boy.

"Sasuke needs to be stopped before he becomes obsessed with revenge, or it will destroy him. That's why I've been trying to force him to spend his time indoors, with people, to realize that he is not alone. But I can't get through to him anymore, and he keeps rejecting other people as well." The Uchiha straightened his ponytail a little.

"I will do it!"

Naruto's face was suddenly full of eagerness. "Pardon?" Itachi asked, surprised.

"I will get through to him! I swear! I will force teme to realize that he is not alone, and get him to stop whining about the past. I promise that right now, and I never go back on my word! That is my nindo!" Naruto boomed, standing up and punching one fist through the air. Itachi imagined Might Guy would have been proud of this display of enthusiasm had he been there to see it.

He couldn't share the boy's excitement, though. Sasuke was not at all the sort of a person that could easily be swayed by other people, and Naruto's confrontational ways were probably not the best way to appeal to him.

Nevertheless, he felt… relieved. He'd watched Sasuke distance himself from everyone, including himself, for years now, and had always felt alone with his responsibility for him. Four years ago, Sasuke had relied on Itachi very much, and always eagerly asked him to tell him what had happened in the week's council meetings, what kind of information their spies had brought, and what plans they had. But as the months and eventually years passed, and Itachi had to disappoint him every week, Sasuke had turned sullen and angry, and less and less understanding. By now, the boy seemed to hold Itachi personally accountable for the council's failure to attack the Hyuuga.

Itachi certainly did deserve his blame and anger for several other things, but not this. The simple, plain and obvious truth was that the rebel community's strength was only a fraction of that of the combined power of the Hyuuga, Root, and the other Hyuuga-minded or neutral ninja in the village. And if rebels' plans were not absolutely perfect when they finally would strike, they really would be crushed entirely.

And Sasuke just refused to see it.

Naruto's voice brought Itachi back to the present. "Whaddaya say? Can we work together to make sure Sasuke calms down?" Naruto's eyes were so eager they damn nearly sparkled.

Itachi couldn't help but smile. "I would love to, but he has been so angry with me recently that the idea of us collaborating would probably turn him against _you._ I think it would be best if you acted alone without letting him know that we've spoken at all."

"Cool! So we'll work together in secret, like ninjas!"

_We ARE ninjas. Please don't tell me you forgot that just now._

-exile-

**A/N: As I said, I'm really sorry about the delay. Please leave a comment, even just a little one.**


	6. Hinata, Deep in Thought

HINATA, DEEP IN THOUGHT

The training dummy was as lifeless as always, and Hinata had trouble picturing the flow of chakra though it.

The Hyuuga took her stance, and subtly peeked to her right, watching the chakra movement of another training ninja. It was easier to practice when she could imagine a live target in her head, rather than what amounted to a large marionette. She moved chakra to her palms, and charged.

Going through her usual training routine mechanically, striking at the dummy's arms, legs and torso in the same way as always, Hinata could see another ninja stare at her from behind. _Some things never change._ She had spent most of her childhood training under the disapproving glare of her father, and now she had to put up with similar glowering coming from those who hated her for being a Hyuuga.

It was understandable, of course. Most of the rebels had lost family members or friends in the coup, and with her being the former heiress of the family responsible for it… People were not exactly happy to have her around. Among the rebels that did not know her well, many believed her to be lying about knowing nothing about the coup, and some frequently petitioned to the council to have her thrown in jail because they thought she was a spy. There were other rebels who believed that she hadn't known about the coup, but thought that that made her a useless reject Hyuuga, not fit to be a ninja or have any responsibility. It was less hostile, but almost equally unpleasant.

_There were many of us who didn't know. I can guarantee Hanabi didn't, because I spoke to her just two days before, and she wasn't anxious in the least. _Hinata had known her sister well enough to see that the only things on her mind had been a set of exams that had been coming up. The rebel Hyuuga also refused to believe that too many of the low-ranked branch Hyuuga had known, the servants of the main family for example. She had witnessed their panic at the Hyuuga compound herself on the day of the coup, watching it through the walls of her bedroom.

_Many of my family had to go along with it afterwards, not having known it would happen. Yet they might be killed anyway once we finally attack the village. _It seemed very unfair, paying with your life for the crime not knowing about something. Some of the Hyuuga who hadn't known about the coup had no doubt been happy to exploit their family's new position in the village, but Hinata, perhaps naively, genuinely believed that she couldn't be the only one who hated the coup.

Hinata struck the training dummy's chest right below where the heart would be, forcing chakra to move from her palms to the dummy's wooden skin. If it had been a real person Hinata had delivered that blow to, that person would now be experiencing a heart attack. Behind her, a kunoichi walked up to the ninja who had been (and still was) glowering at her, and whispered something to him. Hinata could read from her lips, "Don't stare so openly. You should know by now that those freaks can see you even when they're not looking." The corner of the man's mouth twitched with maybe fear or disgust, Hinata couldn't quite tell, and he turned to look elsewhere.

_This must be what it was like to be Naruto-kun back at the village,_ Hinata thought, not for the first time. _Well… not really quite that bad. I have some friends here, at least. _

Hinata took a step back, parrying an imaginary blow coming from her left. She then dove forward, striking just under the dummy's arm. Her jyuuken was rusty. It was very hard to keep up a practice routine that she had last received any feedback for four years ago, and by now she had already forgot what feedback she _had _been given then. Should Hinata be forced to fight another Hyuuga, even one of the lower branch members who never got the in-depth training that she had received as a child, she would need to use other techniques along with her jyuuken. Otherwise she wouldn't stand a chance. If the coup hadn't happened, she would have moved on to more complex training routines, but now she didn't know what her father might have had planned for her… And never would.

Perhaps the idea had been that she would not practice at all. On the day of the coup, Hiashi had stayed at home instead of going to the Hokage's council, and told Hinata they needed to talk. Hinata had thought at the time that it was about getting her branded. It had been obvious for several years by then that Hanabi was the heir that Hiashi and the rest of the Hyuuga wanted, and in order for her to become to the heir, Hinata had to officially step down.

But before they could meet up and talk, bombs had gone off on another side of the village and everything had descended into screaming chaos. The guards by her bedroom door had refused to let her go anywhere, so she had stayed in her room, crying, not understanding what was happening. Several hours later, Hiashi came to see her, scolded her for showing her emotions, and took her with him for a walk in the garden.

Nothing could have prepared her for what he told her next. If Hinata had been very upset before, she was nearly hysterical after being told what was actually going on. The Hokage. Her teammates. Naruto-kun. So many others who her father told her to assume were dead. Hiashi also told her that the reason she hadn't been warned beforehand was because Hinata had such an inappropriate (considering her position and rank in the family) amount of friends and people she cared about outside of the family. The clan leaders had been certain that she would have tried to warn and help her friends.

_And I would have, no question of it. They were completely right to think I was a liability, _Hinata mused bitterly as she struck the practice dummy's left shoulder hard enough to break off splinters. A few imbedded themselves into her hand, but she didn't mind, because she knew a way to push them out using chakra.

After scolding her once again for acting upset, Hiashi had told her that she was to become Hanabi's spare, essentially. In the aftermath of the coup, Hiashi would become the Hokage and Hanabi after him, and Hinata would be left unbranded in case something happened to her younger sister. In order for the Hyuuga to cement their hold on the village, one of them would have to take over the leadership of it, and no branded Hyuuga could ever rule. This, Hiashi had explained, was because if knowledge of how to use the brand seal fell into the wrong hands, the seal could be used to attack the one bearing it. Thus, only Hiashi, Hiashi's very elderly father, and Hinata and Hanabi remained.

The position of Hokage was generally awarded to the strongest, most respected shinobi in the village, those who the public supported and wanted as rulers. Hiashi had never been particularly well liked anywhere in the village, and even inside the family he had had a reputation for being weak because of some issue concerning the Uchiha. Had things gone his way, Hiashi would have become the first honorary Hokage of Konoha, but that dubious honor had ended up being Hanabi's.

As it had turned out, not even being one of the masterminds behind a successful armed uprising was not enough to convince the branch family and the elders that Hiashi wasn't weak. After Hiashi had finished explaining things to Hinata, a group of branch members had come up to them – _and murdered Hinata's father_ _right in front of her. _

It was for the best, they had said. Hiashi wouldn't have made a good leader, they had said. Hiashi had wanted to continue the branding tradition, while the branch wanted (as a reward for participating in the coup) the freedom to stop branding their children. If they made Hanabi into the Hokage, they could control her, they had said, train her into their puppet, they had said. Hinata had better not make trouble or talk to her sister or else she would end up like Hiashi, they had said, and started arguing amongst themselves if they should kill Hinata anyway to silence her.

Hinata had heard all of this, while she had stared blankly at the blood running from her father's slit throat. The girl had felt rather like her brain had burst out of her ears, not understanding, not listening, not seeing what was in front of her. Only when one the branch-nin had grabbed her by the shoulder and started dragging her away had she started to scream.

It was then that Itachi had appeared. It seemed that he had been there long enough to understand that she was innocent of the coup, and wanted to help her, or possibly to somehow use her, who knew. The Uchiha had made very short and brutal work of the branch members there, and then asked if Hinata wanted to run away from there with him or to stay. Hinata had been crying so hysterically at that point that it had taken him several tries to get her to understand what he meant. When she finally got it, she had seriously considered staying behind. Her father needed her, surely. Someone needed to bury him and cry over his grave.

But the Uchiha had also said that she would likely be killed for knowing too much if she stayed, and told her that she could help others who had also suffered in the coup. Her teammates names had come up.

_They are alive?_ Hinata had wondered. Hiashi had said they were targets for assassination, but maybe they had got away.

"We're out of time. Are you coming or not?" The Uchiha had asked in a tone that had sounded more like _are you coming willingly or do I have to kidnap you_. Hinata had taken a last longing look at her father, and then agreed.

And so, four years later, she was now the least popular exile of the entire community. One drunken murder attempt against her had come and gone, as well as petitions to execute her, imprison her, or to use her body for medical experiments to determine the weak points of the byakugan. Funnily enough, the only one out of those three that Hinata had originally expected was the last one. Even when Itachi had carried her away from the village she had wondered why he would rescue her. Her father had told her to assume that all of the Uchiha were also dead, so no doubt this surviving one had all the reasons in the world to hate her family. The possibility that her eyes would be used for experiments or be harvested had crossed her mind, but she had been too tired to care. _Let them take my eyes if they want. Use them to kill those who betrayed my father. _

Other rebels liked to claim that she had no reason to be on their side, that she had not lost anything in the coup, and that she must have no honor to turn on her family. Hinata begged to differ on all accounts, always for the same two reasons. _My father. My sister. _

The former heiress did not believe for a second that the coup had been Hiashi's idea. The man had simply lacked the imagination to start something like that. Hinata wanted to find whomever had come up with it and put the idea into her father's head. And, when it came to Hanabi, she had heard it herself; the elders and the branch were using her as a puppet to push their own agenda.

When the rebels would attack the village, she would have to try her utmost to convince them to take Hanabi captive rather than assassinating her. Maybe it was a lost cause, but she would try. About three years ago Hinata had insisted on having an audience with the rebel council and shakily stammered out her plea for her sister's life, as well as relaying her own experiences about Hanabi likely not knowing about the coup beforehand, and her being used as a puppet. The stunt had earned her even more mistrust among the rebels, most of whom hated Hanabi for being the Hyuuga-run Konoha's figurehead, and the council had exchanged worried looks and given no promises. But Itachi Uchiha had stared at her expressionlessly and commented that everyone among the rebels knew that Hanabi Hyuuga had been a mere child at the time of the coup, and still was. That was about the best Hinata could have hoped for.

Hinata finished her routine and fixed her sore hand. It was about time for her to go.

-exile-

**Please please please review even one word is enough**


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